NCIS: Scoop on the first two episodes of season 11 from Entertainment Weekly’s Sandra Gonzalez

I hear ya, NCIS fans. The departure of Cote de Pablo is an unfortunate turn of events, to say the least. NCIS EP Gary Glasberg was “saddened” by the situation, too, telling me earlier this week during CBS’ annual bash for television critics that “it’s the last thing we planned on.” That said, he promised, ”At the end of the day, I’m really happy with what we came up with. Everyone has to watch the first two episodes.”

Why? Well, for one, he teased, the episodes were completely reworked in order to accommodate this curve ball. ”I literally had to lock myself away and everything I was planning on had to be blown out and I had to start all over again,” he says of the news, which came after plans for the season had already begun. “Again, it’s not what we had hoped for. This family — this NCIS family that exists between [the characters] — is so special and so unique, and this was Cote’s decision and we have to respect that … but some really fantastic work is going to come out of what occurred. We have some really terrific stuff planned for the year.”

So what ARE those plans? For one, Ziva will be “prominent” in the second episode of the season and “it’s a really touching, emotional story and I promise the viewers will not be disappointed — especially the Tiva fans, as we say. I hope it’s everything they want it to be.”

He adds: “I want some of it to be a surprise, but I think people will be pleased at the end of the day with where it’s left both emotionally and psychologically — and not only for Tony, but Gibbs, Abby, and everybody. That’s a big part of what I was taking into consideration — really understanding how the people and the fans are so connected to our characters. You really have to honor that.”